4 ms·

Ask HN: What Does “* * *” Mean in Comments?

14 points by ocimbote 4y ago

Hi, as per the title, I see more and more people commenting "* * *" as their sole contribution. What does it mean?

dpkirchner 4y ago
I haven't seen this. Maybe they're editing comments they can't delete because of replies?
slater 4y ago
Weird, someone else was posting the same question a while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34694341 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34694341 Maybe check your browser's addons/extensions?
- joshxyz 4y ago
  "ding ding ding" lol
- PenguinCoder 4y ago
  Weird, I see comments with the `* * *` using the app Harmonic, on Android. Like my own, here, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35115859 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35115859 That's currently showing as three asterisks on Harmonic app. But loading it up in Firefox mobile, correctly shows the content.
slater 4y ago
Can you give us a link to such a comment?
mtmail 4y ago
From https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34719677 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34719677 - "The software displays "* * *" when the comment is neither dead nor deleted, but the viewer doesn't have permission to see the text." And https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34694341 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34694341 - "In the future, please do as https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html ask and send such questions to hn@ycombinator.com"
- Leftium 4y ago
  Thank you! Finally got a definitive answer. It's very hard to find these answers, as "* * *" is not indexed and cannot be used as a query on most search engines. Perhaps a more descriptive, search-able message would be better. Like [comment delayed]
  - wruza 4y ago
    Wait… I’m using `delay` to create an “edit window” because I often spot mistakes after posting. Didn’t realize it actually shows up instead of being, well, delayed. Edit: tested it on this comment (in another private window). Observations: delay=1 is actually around 3 minutes. The comment didn’t show up until the time has passed. No * * * was observed.
    - Leftium 4y ago
      Yes, however I got this: https://imgur.com/a/Nlf6tox https://imgur.com/a/Nlf6tox When I followed the links, HN showed your pre-edit comment. I swear I've seen "* * *" on HN, but maybe it was just on hw.leftium.com and any other clients of the HN API.
      - wruza 4y ago
        Interesting, I’ve never seen that. Reading HN since circa 2012, but it feels like delay > 0 should be rare enough. Maybe the author of that app (or is it a mailing list?) would be interested in researching what hn’s js itself does in this case. Maybe delay was just “slapped on top” like we all sometimes do :) P.s. I edited the comment above somewhat later after tinkering, so if you received a notification and followed it quickly enough, it was expected that I was too slow to post an update. I don’t think there’s another issue here. Also, just as an idea how it may happen. I was thinking about how you go to comments from this app. If you follow a “context” link, the page may not yet contain the #hash and may simply omit the comment. But if you follow a “reply” link, aka “time ago”, HN itself may have no choice but to show three stars until the delay is over.
      - 4y ago
postultimate 4y ago
[flagged]
- dang 4y ago
  I suppose it was just a bad joke, but please don't.

14 points by ocimbote 4y ago

Hi, as per the title, I see more and more people commenting "* * *" as their sole contribution. What does it mean?

dpkirchner 4y ago

I haven't seen this. Maybe they're editing comments they can't delete because of replies?

slater 4y ago

Weird, someone else was posting the same question a while back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34694341 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34694341 Maybe check your browser's addons/extensions?

joshxyz 4y ago
"ding ding ding" lol
PenguinCoder 4y ago
Weird, I see comments with the `* * *` using the app Harmonic, on Android. Like my own, here, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35115859 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35115859 That's currently showing as three asterisks on Harmonic app. But loading it up in Firefox mobile, correctly shows the content.

slater 4y ago

Can you give us a link to such a comment?

mtmail 4y ago

From https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34719677 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34719677 - "The software displays "* * *" when the comment is neither dead nor deleted, but the viewer doesn't have permission to see the text." And https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34694341 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34694341 - "In the future, please do as https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html ask and send such questions to hn@ycombinator.com"

Leftium 4y ago
Thank you! Finally got a definitive answer. It's very hard to find these answers, as "* * *" is not indexed and cannot be used as a query on most search engines. Perhaps a more descriptive, search-able message would be better. Like [comment delayed]
- wruza 4y ago
  Wait… I’m using `delay` to create an “edit window” because I often spot mistakes after posting. Didn’t realize it actually shows up instead of being, well, delayed. Edit: tested it on this comment (in another private window). Observations: delay=1 is actually around 3 minutes. The comment didn’t show up until the time has passed. No * * * was observed.
  - Leftium 4y ago
    Yes, however I got this: https://imgur.com/a/Nlf6tox https://imgur.com/a/Nlf6tox When I followed the links, HN showed your pre-edit comment. I swear I've seen "* * *" on HN, but maybe it was just on hw.leftium.com and any other clients of the HN API.
    - wruza 4y ago
      Interesting, I’ve never seen that. Reading HN since circa 2012, but it feels like delay > 0 should be rare enough. Maybe the author of that app (or is it a mailing list?) would be interested in researching what hn’s js itself does in this case. Maybe delay was just “slapped on top” like we all sometimes do :) P.s. I edited the comment above somewhat later after tinkering, so if you received a notification and followed it quickly enough, it was expected that I was too slow to post an update. I don’t think there’s another issue here. Also, just as an idea how it may happen. I was thinking about how you go to comments from this app. If you follow a “context” link, the page may not yet contain the #hash and may simply omit the comment. But if you follow a “reply” link, aka “time ago”, HN itself may have no choice but to show three stars until the delay is over.
    - 4y ago

postultimate 4y ago

[flagged]

dang 4y ago
I suppose it was just a bad joke, but please don't.